Wastewater monitoring system and method

ABSTRACT

A wastewater monitoring system uses a digital camera in a fixed location in a wastewater pipe. The digital camera is coupled to a binary sensor that provides a binary trip signal that indicates when the sensor detects wastewater in the pipe exceeding a defined threshold. When the digital camera detects a trip signal from the binary sensor, operating logic in the digital camera changes frequency for taking pictures. The digital camera preferably adds visible data to a stored digital photograph file that may include any or all of the following: camera serial number, state of sensor(s), temperature, battery level in the digital camera, and battery level in the sensor(s). The visible data is stored in the digital photograph file such that the visible information is overlaid on the digital photograph so it is visible to the eye of the person viewing the digital photograph.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to wastewater monitoring, and morespecifically relates to monitoring levels of wastewater in a pipe.

2. Background Art

Many different systems have been developed over the years for monitoringor inspecting the interior of a pipe. For example, U.S. Pat. No.8,087,311 issued on Jan. 3, 2012 to Stephen A. Merlot discloses a systemthat includes multiple cameras attached to an interior surface of a pipethat are connected to a data communication network so the data from thecamera may be transmitted over the data communication network. Acomputing device in a remote location receives the data transmitted overthe data communication network by the cameras.

The system disclosed in the Merlo patent referenced above requires aconstant connection between the cameras and a remote computer system. Inaddition, the Merlo system is relatively expensive. What is needed is asystem and method for monitoring levels in a wastewater pipe that isinexpensive and simple to use.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A wastewater monitoring system uses a digital camera in a fixed locationin a wastewater pipe. The digital camera is coupled to a binary sensorthat provides a binary trip signal that indicates when the sensordetects wastewater in the pipe exceeding a defined threshold. When thedigital camera detects a trip signal from the binary sensor, operatinglogic in the digital camera changes frequency for taking pictures. Thedigital camera preferably adds visible data to a stored digitalphotograph file that may include any or all of the following: cameraserial number, state of one or more sensors, temperature, battery levelof a battery in the digital camera, and battery level of a battery inone or more sensor(s). The visible data is stored in the digitalphotograph file such that the visible information is overlaid on thedigital photograph so it is visible to the eye of the person viewing thedigital photograph.

The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following more particular description, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is front view of a camera that could be used in the wastewatermonitoring system disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the camera shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with thebottom cover in place;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the camera shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with thebottom cover removed;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a concrete anchor;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a ball joint;

FIG. 7 is a side view showing how the camera in FIGS. 1-4 can be mountedin a fixed location in a wastewater pipe using the concrete anchor inFIG. 5 and the ball joint in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method for preparing a camera to monitorlevels of wastewater in a wastewater pipe;

FIG. 9 is flow diagram of a method for installing a camera to monitorlevels of wastewater in a wastewater pipe;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for retrieving photographs from acamera that uses removable storage media;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for retrieving photographs from acamera by swapping with a different camera;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method for retrieving photographs from acamera using a device that receives the photographs from the camera viaa wireless connection;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of one suitable implementation for a digitalcamera that could be used in the wastewater monitoring system disclosedand claimed herein;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing one specific implementation for thelevel sensor interface shown in FIG. 13 connected to a level sensor;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for programming two differentalarms into the level sensor in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a method for the level sensor in FIG. 14 tofunction according to the alarms programmed in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of one suitable method for the camera tofunction when woken up by the level sensor;

FIG. 18 is a table that shows examples of suitable commands from thelevel sensor to the camera;

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of a method showing interaction between awastewater control system on a remote computer system, the level sensorand the camera;

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of a method for the wastewater control systemto interact with the camera via the camera's wireless interface;

FIG. 21 is a table that shows examples of suitable commands from thewastewater control system to the camera;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a computer apparatus that includes awastewater control system that can communicate with sensors, cameras,and that processes the photographs retrieved from a camera in awastewater pipe;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing suitable features of the photoprocessing system shown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a flow diagram of a method for identifying video clips ofinterest to a user from a larger set of photographs using detecteddeltas (changes);

FIG. 25 is a sample wastewater junction that could be monitored usingthe wastewater monitoring system disclosed herein;

FIG. 26 shows how a user can define a first area of interest in thewastewater junction shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 shows how a user can define a second area of interest in thewastewater junction shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 28 shows how a user can define a third area of interest in thewastewater junction shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with a preferredembodiment;

FIG. 30 shows a table of binary sensors and corresponding binary tripactions;

FIG. 31 is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the preferredembodiments;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of one specific system within the scope ofthe system shown in FIG. 29;

FIG. 33 shows a table of camera operational logic for the system shownin FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a flow diagram of a method for adding visible data to adigital photo file;

FIG. 35 is a flow diagram of a method performed by the digital camerafor the system shown in FIG. 32 according to the camera operationallogic shown in FIG. 33;

FIG. 36 is a first sample photograph with visible information added; and

FIG. 37 is a second sample photograph with visible information added.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Most municipalities have separate systems for storm drains and forsewer. Sewage from homes and businesses typically runs in sewage pipesto a sewage treatment plant, which treats the sewage and outputs cleanwater. Storm water systems typically receive runoff from rain storms anddirect the storm water to a holding basin, to a neighboring river orcreek, etc. Because storm water is typically runoff from a storm, ittypically does not contain sewage or other impurities that requiresignificant treatment. As a result, storm water can often be returned tonatural water sources such as creeks or rivers without treatment.

While sewer systems and storm water systems are designed to be separate,sometimes leaks can develop between the two. If storm water leaks into asewage pipe, the result may be volumes of flow that exceed the designparameters of the sewage pipe. This can cause sewage systems to back up,and can also cause excessive flows to the sewage treatment plant.

Detecting when storm water leaks into a sewage pipe is not a simple orstraight-forward process. The degree of the leak can obviously depend onthe amount of runoff generated by a storm. Because storms that generatesignificant runoff are not daily events, a monitoring system must beable to monitor a location of interest for long periods of times,typically spanning several days or weeks. Many of the known systems formonitoring water levels in pipes are sophisticated and expensive. Smallmunicipalities that have issues with storm water leaking into sewagepipes typically do not have the funds to invest in known sophisticatedand expensive monitoring systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,087,311issued on Jan. 3, 2012 to Stephen A. Merlot (discussed above in theBackground Art section) discloses a system that includes multiplecameras attached to an interior surface of a pipe that are connected toa data communication network so the data from the camera may betransmitted over the data communication network. A computing device in aremote location receives the data transmitted over the datacommunication network by the cameras. Needless to say, installingmultiple cameras in a pipe and installing a communication network is anexpensive process. What is needed is a simple and inexpensive way tomonitor water level in a pipe over days or weeks. The disclosure andclaims herein provide a system and method that can detect water level ina pipe without the complexity and expense of known systems.

A wastewater monitoring system uses a digital camera in a fixed locationin a wastewater pipe. The digital camera is coupled to a binary sensorthat provides a binary trip signal that indicates when the sensordetects wastewater in the pipe exceeding a defined threshold. When thedigital camera detects a trip signal from the binary sensor, operatinglogic in the digital camera changes frequency for taking pictures. Thedigital camera preferably adds visible data to a stored digitalphotograph file that may include any or all of the following: cameraserial number, state of one or more sensors, temperature, battery levelof a battery in the digital camera, and battery level of a battery inone or more sensor(s). The visible data is stored in the digitalphotograph file such that the visible information is overlaid on thedigital photograph so it is visible to the eye of the person viewing thedigital photograph.

As used herein, the term “wastewater monitoring system” refers to asystem that can detect a level of water or other liquid-based materialin a gravity-fed pipe. The term “wastewater” in this context meansmaterial in any suitable pipe, including without limitation sewer pipesand storm water pipes. Of course, the monitoring system could be used tomonitor level of any material in any gravity-fed pipe, whetherwater-based or not. The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend tomonitoring level of a material in any gravity-fed pipe, whethercurrently known or developed in the future.

In accordance with the system and method disclosed herein, a singlecamera can be mounted in a fixed location in or near a wastewater pipethat takes a still photograph of a location of interest at definedintervals. One suitable camera that can be used in the system and methoddisclosed herein is a digital battery-operated 8 megapixel camera thatis marketed by Shenzhen Siyuan Digital Technology Co., Ltd. as a homesecurity camera. This camera is represented as camera 100 in FIGS. 1-4and 7. FIG. 1 shows a front view of camera 100, which includes a top 110that covers a battery compartment, a cylindrical body 120, an array ofinfrared illuminators 130, a lens 140, a laser 142, and a motion sensor150. Note the motion sensor 150 is typically not used in the wastewatermonitoring system disclosed herein. The laser 142 is used to provide avisual indication of where the camera is pointed. The back view ofcamera 100 shown in FIG. 2 shows a threaded insert 160 that is sized toreceive the mounting post on most tripods, and a belt slot defined bytwo openings 172 and 176 that are interconnected with a passage 174,allowing a strap to be passed through the slot to attach the camera tosomething using a strap.

FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the camera with the bottom cover 180 inplace. The bottom cover 180 includes another threaded insert 310 that issized to receive the mounting post on most tripods. The bottom cover 180also includes a rubber cover 320 that provides a sealed cover that canbe removed to access the switch 460 and the DC power jack 470 shown inFIG. 4 without removing the bottom cover 180.

FIG. 4 shows the bottom view of the camera 100 with the bottom cover 180in FIG. 3 removed. The camera includes a small display 410, anAudio/Video Out jack 420, a micro USB jack 430, an SD card slot 440, aset of push buttons 450, a switch 460, and a DC power jack 470. Theswitch 460 and buttons 450 allow programming the camera for a desiredmode of operation. Thus, using the display 410, buttons 450 and switch460, the user could configure the camera to take a still photograph onceevery five minutes, for example. Once the camera is programmed for thedesired function, the bottom cover 180 shown in FIG. 3 can be replaced,and the camera 100 is then ready to be deployed to monitor a location ofinterest.

Most wastewater systems have manholes that are typically made of brickor concrete and pipes that are typically made of concrete, polyvinylchloride (PVC), clay, and other materials. Manholes are typicallycovered with manhole covers to provide access to the pipes to people whoneed to service the system. In the most preferred implementation, thecamera 100 in FIGS. 1-4 is deployed to a location near a manhole, and isattached to a side of the concrete manhole or pipe using a concreteanchor 510 shown in FIG. 5. Concrete anchors 510 as shown in FIG. 5 arewell-known and are available from a number of different suppliers. FIG.6 shows a ball joint 610 that can be used to point the camera to alocation of interest. The ball joint 610 includes an adjustment knob 670that, when loose, allows the shaft comprising 640, 650 and 660 to pivotin relation to the position of the body 620. Once the adjustment knob670 is tightened, the shaft comprising 640, 650 and 660 is locked intoposition. Ball joint 610 also includes a metal internally threadedinsert 630. Ball joint 610 is one suitable example of a directionorientation mechanism that can be used to fixedly mount the camera topoint to the location of interest. Many other direction orientationmechanisms could be used within the scope of the disclosure and claimsherein. One suitable example for ball joint 610 is the MH 1004 Mini BallHead manufactured by Giottos.

Referring to FIG. 7, to mount the camera 100 in a fixed location so thecamera can take photographs of a location of interest, a manhole coveris typically removed, a hole of the appropriate size is drilled in aconcrete wall 710 with a cordless drill using a masonry bit, and theanchor end 520 of the concrete anchor 510 is then pounded into the hole,as partially shown at 510 in FIG. 5. The anchor is then secured inplace, typically by turning a nut onto the threaded end 530 and turningthe nut with a wrench until the anchor end 520 is securely anchored inthe hole. Once the anchor 510 is securely anchored in the hole, aspartially shown at 510 in FIG. 7, the threaded insert 630 of the balljoint 610 can be threaded onto the threaded end 530 of the anchor, asshown in FIG. 7. Once the ball joint 610 is secured in place to theanchor 510, the threaded insert 160 on the back of the camera 100 (shownin FIG. 2) is screwed onto the threaded post 660 of the ball joint 610,and the thumb wheel 650 can be turned to tighten the connection betweenthe ball joint 610 and the camera 100. Once the camera is securelymounted to the threaded post 660, the knob 670 is loosened to allow theshaft of the ball joint to freely rotate, which allows the position ofthe camera 100 to be changed until the lens of the camera 100 is pointedto a location of interest 720. The process of pointing the camera 100 tothe location of interest 720 is greatly simplified using laser 142 shownin FIG. 1. The laser 142 provides a colored dot of light that can beaimed at any suitable target in the location of interest to assure thecamera is pointed at the location of interest. Once the camera 100 ispointed to the location of interest 720, the knob 670 is tightened tolock the camera in a fixed position with the lens pointed towards thelocation of interest 720. A nice feature of using the laser 142 is theability to orient the camera in the same orientation time after time. Asimple example will illustrate. Let's assume a person initially installsthe camera as shown in FIG. 7, and uses the laser to point to a definedfeature or point in the location of interest. The person could even markthe feature or point with a colored marker. The camera could be removed,then a year later the camera could be re-installed with the laserpointing to the same feature or point in the location of interest. Thelaser 142 thus provides precision in aiming the camera. Once the camerais re-installed and the laser 142 is pointed to the same point featureor point, the new photographs taken by the camera could then be comparedwith the photographs taken a year ago because the camera is pointing tothe same feature or point in the location of interest.

While the installation shown in FIG. 7 shows installing the camera in afixed location on a vertical surface near a manhole cover or pipe, thecamera could be mounted on any suitable surface in any suitableorientation. For example, the camera could be mounted to the bottomsurface of a manhole cover pointing straight down. In the alternative,the camera could be mounted to the bottom surface of a manhole coverpointing to an off-angle with respect to straight down. The manholecover could then be rotated until the camera is pointed to the locationof interest. One way to do this is to establish a wireless connectionbetween the camera and a portable device such as a phone so what thecamera is pointed to is visible on the portable device using an app onthe portable device. When the camera includes a Wi-Fi interface, anotherway to do this is to establish a connection with the camera via itswireless interface, with the camera streaming video of what it currentlysees so a user can determine whether the camera is pointed to thecorrect location of interest. Another way of mounting the camera uses apressure bar, similar to a shower curtain rod, that pushes out betweentwo opposing surfaces so the pressure bar can be mounted between twowalls beneath the manhole cover. The camera could then be mounted to thepressure bar using any suitable connector. A pressure bar allowsmounting the camera in a way that does no permanent damage to themanhole area. In addition, a pressure bar can be installed from outsidethe manhole without having to enter the confined space of the manhole.These and other variations for mounting the camera are within the scopeof the disclosure and claims herein.

Referring to FIG. 8, a method 800 includes the steps for preparing acamera for use in the wastewater monitoring system. First, removablestorage media is installed into the camera (step 810). The timerinterval for the camera is set (step 820). The camera housing is thenclosed (step 830). The camera is ready to start taking photographs ofthe location of interest once the camera is mounted in the fixedlocation. For the specific example of the camera 100 in FIGS. 1-4, step810 could include installing an SD card into the SD card slot 440 shownin FIG. 4. Step 820 would include the user setting the mode of thecamera using the switch 460 and the buttons 450. Setting the camera totake a photograph every five minutes is one example of a suitableinterval. The camera housing is closed in step 830 by installing thebottom cover 180 shown in FIG. 3.

The steps for installing a camera in a fixed location are shown inmethod 900 in FIG. 9. The threaded anchor is attached to a solid surface(step 910). The direction orientation mechanism is attached to thethreaded anchor (step 920). The locking mechanism on the directionorientation mechanism is unlocked (step 930), which allows a second partof the direction orientation mechanism to change position with respectto a first part of the direction orientation mechanism that is attachedto the anchor. The camera housing is then attached to the directionorientation mechanism (step 940). The camera housing is then oriented topoint the camera lens at a location of interest (step 950). The lockingmechanism on the direction orientation mechanism is then locked (step960), which locks the camera in a fixed location that points the cameralens at the location of interest. Method 900 is then done. The result ifperforming methods 800 and 900 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, respectively, isillustrated in a camera 100 as shown in FIG. 7 that is mounted in afixed position with respect to the location of interest 720.

Once the camera has been in place and taking photographs for asufficient period of time, which can include days or weeks, thephotographs need to be analyzed. To avoid the expense of having thecamera communicate with some hard-wired or wireless communicationsystem, the photographs may be retrieved from the camera by a persongoing to the location where the camera is mounted and retrieving thephotographs. This can be done in different ways. When the cameraincludes removable media, such as a SD card, a thumb drive, or otherremovable media, method 1000 in FIG. 10 may be used. The personretrieving the photos opens the camera housing (step 1010). Theremovable storage media upon which the photos have been stored isremoved from the camera (step 1020). A different removable storage mediacan be optionally installed into the camera (step 1030). The camerahousing is then closed (step 1040). The person who removed the removablestorage media can then transport the removable storage media with allits stored photos to a different location for analysis.

Instead of using a camera that has removable storage media, a cameracould be used that stores the photographs in its internal memory. Inthis case, the camera could be removed and replaced with a similarcamera so the camera's stored photographs can be analyzed. Referring toFIG. 11, method 1100 begins by the user opening the camera housing (step1110). The user removes the camera from the housing (step 1120),installs a different camera into the housing (step 1130), and closes thecamera housing (step 1140). The camera that has the stored images canthen be transported to a different location for analysis while the newcamera continues to take photographs of the location of interest.

In yet another implementation, the camera can include a wirelessinterface, such as a Bluetooth interface, a Wi-Fi interface, or acellular network interface that allows the person to download thephotographs from the camera to some external device. The photographs canbe downloaded to a remote computer system, or can be downloaded to aportable device, such as a laptop computer, tablet computer, or smartphone that is in proximity to the camera. Referring to FIG. 12, method1200 begins by establishing a wireless connection between a device thatwill receive the photos and the camera (step 1210). The photos are thentransferred from the camera to the device via the wireless connection(step 1220). When the photos are transferred to a portable device, ifthe portable device has sufficient computing capacity and the propersoftware, the analysis of the photographs can be done directly by theportable device without transporting the portable device to a differentlocation and without transmitting the photographs to a differentlocation. In addition, in many circumstances the wireless interface maybe available without removing the manhole cover. A simple example willillustrate. Let's assume the camera is installed in a manhole in themiddle of a busy intersection. Assuming a portable device can access thewireless interface of the camera without removing the manhole cover, aperson could stand on a street corner near the intersection and accessthe photographs in the camera using a portable device without the needof stopping traffic or removing the manhole cover. In the alternative,if the camera is able to connect to a suitable wireless connection suchas a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network, the photos could be downloadedvia the wireless connection to a remote device, such as a computersystem.

Referring to FIG. 13, a suitable digital camera 1310 could be used inthe wastewater monitoring system disclosed and claimed herein. Thedigital camera 1310 includes a processor 1320; an internal memory 1321;one or more illuminators 1322; an image sensor array 1324; a lens 1326;a timer 1328; a battery pack 1330; a laser pointer 1331; a water sensor1332, a removable media slot 1333; a battery sensor 1370; a wirelessinterface 1334; a time/date tag tool 1336; a location tag tool 1337; atemperature tag tool 1338, a battery level tag tool 1339, a userinterface 1340; a microphone 1342; a temperature sensor 1344; a pressuresensor 1346; a level sensor interface 1348; camera operational logic1350; one or more sensor interfaces 1352 that provide communication withone or more external sensors; and a lens heater 1354. The processor 1320preferably executes the camera operational logic 1350 that resides inthe memory 1321 to provide the control and processing function fortaking and storing digital photographs, and for performing other camerafunctions disclosed herein. The illuminator(s) 1322 are preferably oneor more light sources that can serve to illuminate a location ofinterest. Examples of suitable light sources include one or morelight-emitting diodes (LEDs), which may include infrared LEDs, whiteLEDs, color LEDs, etc. When the illuminator(s) 1322 are white or colorLEDs, the camera 1310 is preferably a color camera with a lens thatfilters infrared light. When the illuminator(s) 1322 are infrared LEDs,the camera could be a color camera, or is more preferably ablack-and-white camera, with a lens that does not filter infrared light.The illuminator(s) 1322 are important in wastewater monitoring becausewastewater pipes typically do not have sufficient light for a photographwithout using an infrared illuminator. While illuminator(s) 1322 areshown in the figures and discussed herein, one skilled in the art willappreciate that any type of illuminator could also be used, includingany suitable source of light. The image sensor array 1324 is an array ofphoto-sensitive devices, such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) thatallow taking a digital photograph, as is known in the art. The lens 1326could be a fixed-focus lens, or could be an adjustable lens, where thelens directs an image to be taken as a photograph onto the image sensorarray 1324. The lens 1326 could also be removable, allowing differentlenses to be installed in camera 1310 depending on the field of viewneeded for a particular installation. The timer 1328 allows a user toset a time interval so the camera 1310 will take one photographautomatically each defined time period, such as five minutes. Thebattery pack 1330 can include any suitable direct current power sourcefrom any suitable battery chemistry or technology. The battery pack 1330could be single-use, or could be rechargeable. The battery pack 1330preferably provides sufficient power for the camera 1310 to functiontaking photographs for days, weeks or months without interruption. Theterm “battery pack” as used herein expressly includes any suitable typeand size of commercially-available batteries, as well as battery types,forms and factors not yet known.

The laser pointer 1331 provides a visual indication such as a coloreddot from a low-power laser that helps to point the camera lens at thelocation of interest. As discussed above, the laser pointer 1331provides precision in pointing the camera so the camera can berepeatedly removed and installed to point to the same feature or pointin the location of interest. This allows correlating photographs takenacross multiple installations over time at the same location. The watersensor 1332 detects when water contacts the camera or the housing of thecamera. For a camera similar to the camera shown in FIGS. 1-4 and 7, thewater sensor 1332 could include two metal contact points on the case,where the water sensor 1332 detects electrical resistance between thetwo metal contact points. When water does not bridge the gap between thetwo metal contact points, the water sensor 1332 detects a very highelectrical resistance, which means no water is present. When waterbridges the gap between the two metal contact points, the water sensor1332 detects a significantly lower electrical resistance, which meanswater is present. In an alternative implementation, the two metalcontacts can be capacitive sense contacts that detect changes incapacitance between the two contacts. In some implementations, the watersensor would have metal probes on the exterior of the housing connectedwith wires to circuitry within the camera that would detect whetherwater is contacting the housing. The water sensor 1332 is especiallyuseful in detecting an overflow condition where water is flooding up andout of the wastewater system through the manhole covers.

The removable media slot 1333 allows removable storage media to beinstalled into the camera 1310, which will result in photographs beingstored on the removable storage media. Examples of removable media slot1333 include an SD card reader that receives an SD card, and a USB portthat receives a flash drive. All suitable types of removable media andcorresponding slots are within the scope of the disclosure and claimsherein.

The battery sensor 1370 senses the level of the battery pack 1330. Thelevel of the battery pack can be reported in any suitable manner, suchas a percentage from 1-100% of full charge, a bar graph, a bracketedvalue (such as 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%), or in any other suitable way.

The wireless interface 1334 can be used to connect the camera 1310 to alocal or remote device for transferring the stored photographs to thedevice. A Bluetooth interface is one suitable example of a wirelessinterface 1334 when the photographs are to be transferred to a localdevice. A Wi-Fi interface is another suitable example of a wirelessinterface 1334, which is better suited than Bluetooth for sending thephotographs to a remote device, such as a remote computer system. Acellular network interface is another suitable example of a wirelessinterface 1334. The loading of photographs from a camera to an externaldevice via a wireless interface is discussed above with reference tomethod 1200 in FIG. 12. Note, however, the wireless interface 1334 couldalso be used to configure the camera operational logic 1350 so the userdoes not have to move switches or push buttons on the camera 1310 to putthe camera 1310 in the desired mode of operation.

The time/date tag tool 1336 tags each photograph taken by the camerawith the time and date of the photograph. The tagging of time and datefor a photograph is most preferably done electronically by storingmetadata that includes the time and date as part of the digitalphotograph file. In addition, the time and date could also be optionallysuperimposed on the photograph itself as visible text information so thetime and date is visually apparent to a person viewing the photograph.The location tag tool 1337 could optionally tag each photo with thegeographic location of the camera when the photograph was taken. Thegeographic location can be specified in any suitable way, includingglobal positioning system (GPS) coordinates, or using any other way forspecifying a geographic location, whether currently known or developedin the future. Note the camera need not include a GPS function todynamically determine its location because the camera is mounted in afixed location. Thus, the location of the camera could be specified tothe camera at the time the camera is installed, which allows thelocation tag tool 1337 to tag each photo taken by the digital camerawith the specified location. The temperature tag tool 1338 reads thetemperature from the temperature sensor 1360, adds the temperature asmetadata to the digital photograph file, and adds and overlays thetemperature as visible information on the photograph, such as anumerical value or other representation of temperature. The batterylevel tag tool 1339 reads the battery level of the battery pack 1330from the battery sensor 1370, adds the battery level as metadata to thedigital photograph file, and adds and overlays the battery level asvisible information on the photograph, such as a numerical valueindicating a level of charge of the battery. The date and time,location, temperature and battery level can be added to one or moreframes in a video stream captured by the camera in addition to beingadded to still photographs. Because a video stream is simply a sequenceof photographs, the term “one or more photos” can include a singlephoto, multiple photos, or a video that includes multiple photos in timesequence.

The user interface 1340 allows the user to setup the camera 1310 to adesired mode of operation by defining the camera operational logic 1350,such as taking a photograph automatically every five minutes, orfunctioning as a slave to an external sensor. The user interface 1340can optionally include a display that allows viewing the image capturedby the camera, or viewing a video that shows what the camera sees, whichcan be very helpful in initially installing the camera. The microphone1342 can be optionally used to change function of the camera 1310. Forexample, let's assume the camera 1310 is initially setup to take aphotograph every five minutes. Let's further assume the camera monitorsthe ambient sound level using microphone 1342. When the ambient soundlevel detected by the microphone 1342 exceeds some specified threshold,which could indicate rushing water in the pipe, the camera functioncould change to take a photograph every minute instead of every fiveminutes. Because the camera 1310 is used to monitor level of water in apipe, and because water makes sounds as it passes through a pipe, achange in the volume level detected by the microphone 1342 on the camera1310 can indicate a change in the water level in the pipe, and couldthus be used to change the function of the camera as desired or to tagone or more photographs according to detected sound levels.

The temperature sensor 1344 detects temperature at or near the locationof interest. The temperature sensor 1344 could be a temperature sensorinside a housing for the digital camera 1310. In the alternative, thetemperature sensor 1344 could be a remote temperature sensor connectedto the digital camera. One suitable remote temperature sensor is alaser-type temperature sensor that detects temperature of a surfacecontacted with a laser. Such laser-type temperature sensors areavailable in most hardware stores at nominal cost, and could be builtinto the camera as shown in FIG. 13. The temperature sensor can providea temperature in any suitable digital format in any suitable temperatureunits, such as Fahrenheit or Celsius. Because groundwater that leaksinto a sewer system in infiltration or inflow is typically a differenttemperature than the material flowing in the sewer system, a rapidchange in temperature can signal the presence of groundwater in thesewage pipe. In some applications or at some times of the year, thegroundwater could be significantly warmer than the sewage in the sewerpipe. In other applications or at other times of the year, thegroundwater could be significantly cooler than the sewer in the sewerpipe. When the camera detects via the temperature sensor 1344 a rate ofchange in temperature that exceeds some defined threshold over somedefined time period, the camera could change its function. For example,the camera could be initially programmed to take one photograph everyfive minutes. But when the camera detects via the temperature sensor1344 a change in temperature that exceeds the defined threshold over thedefined time period, the camera could automatically change to taking onephotograph every minute instead of every five minutes. The disclosureand claims herein expressly extend to suitably changing the function ofa camera based on some detected temperature change.

The pressure sensor 1346 could be used to detect when the pressure atthe camera increases. This could happen, for example, when the systembacks up and overflows through the manhole covers. The pressure sensor1346 allows the camera to detect when the pressure surrounding thecamera or housing increases, thereby allowing the camera to alter itsfunction, send an alarm, etc.

The level sensor interface 1348 allows the camera to communicate with asuitable level sensor. One specific system 1400 that includes a suitablelevel sensor 1410 is shown in FIG. 14 that interacts with a suitablesensor level interface 1448, which is one suitable implementation forthe sensor level interface 1338 shown in FIG. 13. Camera 1402 is onesuitable implementation for camera 1310 in FIG. 13. A level sensor 1410includes one or more alarms 1420 that may be programmed according tolevels detected by the level sensor. The level sensor 1410 includes oneor more alarm outputs 1430 that are connected to a wakeup interface 1450in the level sensor interface 1448 in camera 1402. The wakeup interface1450 can be any suitable implementation, such as a single digital linethat is asserted by the alarm output 1430 to the wakeup interface 1450to wake up the camera 1402, and de-asserted by the alarm output 1430when the alarm has passed. The level sensor 1410 also includes a dataoutput 1440 that allows communicating on any suitable communicationinterface, such as communication interface 1460 in camera 1402. In onespecific configuration, the connection from the data output 1440 andcommunication interface 1460 is via a RS-485 serial interface that thatsupports serial communications on a two-wire serial half-duplextri-state bus. The tri-state RS-485 bus allow connecting multiplecameras to one level sensor so an alarm in the level sensor can causemultiple cameras to wake up and take one or more pictures or a video.This approach allows multiple cameras to be slaves to a single levelsensor, thereby providing different points of view for a location ofinterest. The level data received by each camera from the level sensorcould be added and overlaid on all the photos as visible text, therebyallowing correlation of the photos from each camera to each other viathe overlaid level data.

Eastech Flow Controls developed and sells a level sensor called theiTracker. Eastech Flow Controls has developed a modified iTracker towork with the digital camera disclosed herein. The references below toan iTracker are understood to mean a modified iTracker, as opposed to anoff-the-shelf iTracker that is currently available. The modifiediTracker is a self-contained level sensor that includes hard-wireconnections that may be connected to the level sensor interface 1348 oncamera 1310 in FIG. 13, or to the level sensor interface 1448 in camera1402 in FIG. 14. The iTracker level sensor includes multiple alarmoutputs 1430, and a two-wire RS-485 communication interface thatcommunicates the data output 1440 to the communication interface 1460 inthe level sensor interface 1448 in camera 1402 in FIG. 14. The iTrackerlevel sensor further includes a Wi-Fi interface that allowscommunicating with the iTracker from a remote computer system vianetwork communications over Wi-Fi.

Referring again to FIG. 13, the camera operational logic 1350 issoftware that resides in the memory 1321 and is executed by theprocessor 1320 so the camera will perform its desired functions. Thecamera operational logic 1350 supports communication with a level sensorvia the level sensor interface 1348. The camera operational logic 1350preferably performs method 1500 shown in FIG. 15 and method 2000 in FIG.20, which are discussed below. In addition, cameral operational logic1350 may include logic to read binary sensors and to performcorresponding functions in response, as discussed in more detail below.

The sensor interface(s) 1352 represent any suitable interface to anysuitable sensor or sensors that are external to the camera 1310. Thelevel sensor interface 1348 is one specific example for the sensorinterface 1352. The camera 1310 may function using inputs from manydifferent sensors. As discussed in detail above, water sensor 1332,microphone 1342, temperature sensor 1344 and pressure sensor 1346 areexamples of sensors that could be incorporated into the camera 1310. Thelevel sensor interface 1348 and sensor interface 1352 provide interfacesto sensors external to the camera 1310. Note that any suitable sensorcould be included as part of the camera 1310, as discussed above for thewater sensor 1332, microphone 1342, temperature sensor 1344 and pressuresensor 1346. In the alternative, the sensor interface(s) 1352 couldinclude interfaces to an external water sensor, an external microphone,an external temperature sensor, and/or an external pressure sensor. Inaddition, the sensor interface(s) 1352 could include an interface to anysuitable sensor, whether currently known or developed in the future.

Because camera 1310 is used in a wastewater pipe, the humid environmentcan cause fogging of the lens of the camera due to condensation of watervapor on the lens. Camera 1310 preferably includes a lens heater 1354that can heat the lens to eliminate any accumulated condensation on thelens. One specific implementation of the lens heater 1354 is placing theilluminator(s) 1322 in proximity to the lens so heat generated by theilluminator(s) 1322 can dissipate any accumulated condensation on thelens. Another implementation of the lens heater is a nichrome wire orother heating strip embedded in the lens or running around the peripheryof the lens. By applying power to the nichrome wire, the lens is heatedto eliminate any accumulated condensation. Other types of lens heatersare also within the scope of the camera disclosed herein, includingheated fans and any other type of heater that could be used to heat thelens.

Note that a suitable digital camera that could be used in the wastewatermonitoring system disclosed herein need not include all of the featuresshown in FIG. 13. A subset of these features could be used, depending onthe specific implementation.

One possible mode of operation for the camera 1310 is to set a timerinterval for taking photographs as shown in FIG. 8, which results in thecamera taking one photograph each time period. It has been found infield testing of wastewater monitoring systems that battery life in thecamera becomes a crucial, limiting factor in the system. When the camerais always on, with a timer counting down to taking the next photo, thebattery life can affect the usability of the system. Using the iTrackerlevel sensor, an alternative mode of operation for the camera 1310 ispossible. In essence, the camera becomes a slave to the iTracker levelsensor, only waking up when instructed by the iTracker level sensor.Thus, instead of programming the camera to take a photograph every fiveminutes, an alarm on the iTracker can be set to go off to wake up thecamera every five minutes. This allows the camera to normally be in adeep sleep mode that greatly reduces battery drain. The camera wakes upwhen instructed by the iTracker, receives level data from the iTracker,takes a photo or video, overlays the level data received from theiTracker as visible text on the photo or video, then goes back into deepsleep mode. Note that when the camera takes a video, the video caninclude sound from the microphone 1342. Note also a combination of videoand still photos can be taken by the camera. For example, at the startof an event indicated by an alarm, the camera could take ten seconds ofvideo, then go into sleep mode, then take a single photograph each timethe camera wakes up. These and other variations are within the scope ofthe disclosure and claims herein.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of an example method 1500 for programmingmultiple alarms into a level sensor, such as an iTracker level sensor.For this specific example, the level sensor has a first alarm calledAlarm1 that is programmed to be asserted every five minutes when thelevel detected by the level sensor is greater than a first definedthreshold X (step 1510). The level sensor also has a second alarm calledAlarm2 that is programmed to be asserted every one minute when the levelis greater than a second defined threshold Y (step 1520). For thisexample, we assume the camera does not take any photos as long as thelevel is less than the first threshold X. Once the level exceeds thefirst threshold X but is less than the second threshold Y, the alarmoutput is asserted every five minutes. Once the level exceeds the secondthreshold Y, the alarm output is asserted every one minute. The logichere is clear. When the level is normal, no photos are taken becausemonitoring normal levels typically is not needed. When the level isbetween the first and second threshold, one photo every five minutes istaken. When the level is above the second threshold, one photo everyminute is taken. This is shown as method 1600 in FIG. 16. When the levelis not greater than the first threshold X (step 1610=NO), method 1600loops back to step 1610 until the level exceeds this first threshold X(step 1610=YES). When the level is not greater than the second thresholdY (step 1620=NO), this means the level is between the first threshold Xand the second threshold Y, so the alarm output is asserted every 5minutes (step 1630). When the level is greater than the first thresholdX (step 1610=YES) and greater than the second threshold Y (step1620=YES), the alarm output is asserted every one minute (step 1640).The logic in the level sensor shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 allows the levelsensor to monitor level of material in the wastewater pipe, then controlthe camera accordingly to preserve the battery life of the camera.

Referring to FIG. 17, a method 1700 represents steps performed by thecamera operational logic. Method 1700 starts when camera 1310 receives awakeup signal on its wakeup interface 1450 (step 1710). The cameralreceives a “Take Photo” command from the level sensor (step 1720). Inresponse, the camera takes a specified number of photos (step 1730),which can be a single photo, multiple photos, or a video. Level datareceived by the camera from the level sensor is added and overlaid asvisible information on one or more of the photos or video (step 1740).Level data received from the level sensor that can be added to thephoto(s) in step 1740 include time and date, location, and leveldetermined by the level sensor. Note, however, that time and data andlocation could also be determined by the camera itself instead of beingreceived as level data from the level sensor. Of course, other datacould also be received from the level sensor and added to the photo(s)within the scope of the disclosure and claims herein. The temperature ofthe camera and battery status of the camera may also be added andoverlaid as visible information on the photos (step 1750). The camerathen enters sleep mode (step 1760) until it receives another wakeupsignal (step 1710). By the camera waiting to be woken up by the levelsensor before taking a picture, the camera's battery power is not wastedcapturing images of normal conditions.

The number of photos taken in step 1730 can be specified as anoperational parameter in the camera, or can be sent to the camera as aparameter to the command the camera receives from the level sensor totake a photo. In the most preferred implementation, the specified numberof photos in step 1720 is one, which means the camera wakes up, takesone photo, adds the level data received from the level sensor and otherdata in steps 1740 and 1750 as visible information to the one photo,then goes back to sleep. Because the camera is only awake for a veryshort time each time it is woken up, the battery life is drasticallyimproved, allowing a camera to function for many months, perhaps over ayear, before battery replacement in the camera is required. While thedefault operation of the camera may be to take one photo when woken up,this default can be overridden by the wastewater control systeminteracting with the camera or the level sensor interacting with thecamera to specify a number of photos greater than one that is taken eachtime the camera wakes up, or to specify a video be taken for a specifiedlength of time.

Step 1720 in FIG. 17 refers to a Take Photo command. The Take Photocommand is one suitable example of a level sensor to camera command, asshown at 1820 in table 1810 in FIG. 18. The Take Photo command 1820instructs the camera to take one or more photos or a video, as discussedabove. The Take Photo command 1820 may include a parameter thatspecifies a number of photos to take, or a length of video to take.However, as discussed above, the most preferred implementation is forthe camera to take a single photo when it receives the Take Photocommand 1820 from the level sensor. Note that the Take Photo command1820 will be followed by the level sensor sending level data to thecamera. The level sensor can also optionally send its battery status tothe camera so the battery status of both the camera and the level sensorcan be added and overlaid as visible information on the photo taken bythe camera. A second command the level sensor can send to the camera isa Turn On Wireless Interface command 1830, which instructs the camera toturn on its wireless interface. As discussed above with reference toFIG. 13, a wireless interface can include any suitable wirelessinterface, whether currently known or developed in the future. Examplesof known wireless interfaces include, without limitation, a Bluetoothinterface, a Wi-Fi interface, and a cellular communication interface, orany combination of these. Once the camera turns on its wirelessinterface, the wastewater control system can interact directly with thecamera to perform several functions, as discussed in more detail below,such as downloading photos from the camera directly at high speed.

The iTracker level sensor includes a Wi-Fi interface that turns on everyfive minutes to determine whether anything is trying to communicate withthe iTracker level sensor. This feature allows the iTracker level sensorto further control the function of the camera, as shown in method 1900in FIG. 19. The level sensor turns on its Wi-Fi interface every Xminutes, such as five minutes (step 1910). The wastewater control systemsends a message to the Wi-Fi interface of the level sensor until themessage is acknowledged by the level sensor (step 1920), which happensonce the level sensor turns on its Wi-Fi interface in step 1910,receives the message, and acknowledges the message. The level sensorsends a wakeup message to the camera (step 1930). The level sensor sendsa camera command to the camera to turn on its wireless interface (step1940). Method 1900 is then done.

Method 2000 in FIG. 20 shows what happens in response to the camerareceiving a camera command from the level sensor to turn on its wirelessinterface (step 2010), which occurs, for example, in step 1940 in FIG.19. Referring back to FIG. 20, in response to the command received fromthe level sensor in step 2010, the camera turns on its wirelessinterface (step 2020). The wastewater control system can then interactwith the camera directly via the wireless interface (step 2030), whichallows the wastewater control system to interact with and control thecamera. When the camera is connected to the wastewater control systemvia its wireless interface, the camera acts as a web server so thecamera can be accessed and controlled via any suitable web browser. Thiseliminates the requirement for a specialized program to setup andcontrol the camera. Of course, a specialized program could also be used,but the preferred implementation is for the camera to provide web serverinterface so any suitable browser can be used.

The wastewater control system can define any suitable command tointeract with the camera. Examples of suitable commands from thewastewater control system to the camera are shown in table 2110 in FIG.21, and include a Send Camera Status command 2120; a List Photos command2130; a Send All Photos command 2140; a Send Specified Photos command2150; a Delete All Photos command 2160; and a Delete Specified Photoscommand 2170. The Send Camera Status command 2120, when received by thecamera, causes the camera to send any suitable status information, suchas battery state, the amount of photo memory used, the amount of photomemory available, temperature, current operational settings, etc. TheList Photos command 2130, when received by the camera, causes the camerato send to the wastewater control system a list of the photos in itsmemory. The Send All Photos command 2140, when received by the camera,causes the camera to send to the wastewater control system all thephotos in its memory. The Send Specified Photos command 2150, whenreceived by the camera, causes the camera to send to the wastewatercontrol system a subset of specified photos in its memory. The photosmay be specified in any suitable way in the Send Specified Photoscommand, including photo name, date, time, etc. The photos may also bespecified using any suitable wildcard. Thus, one suitable example of asend specified photos command 2150 could specify to send all photos thatbegin with D456 in the filename that were taken between two specifieddates. The Delete All Photos command 2160, when received by the camera,causes the camera to delete all photos in its memory. The DeleteSpecified Photos command 2170, when received by the camera, causes thecamera to delete photos that match criteria in the command, similar tothe criteria in the Send Specified Photos command 2150 discussed above.Of course, other system to camera commands could be included, and arewithin the scope of the disclosure and claims herein. In one suitableexample, the wastewater control system could send a List Photos command2130 to determine the list of stored photos in the camera, followed by aSend All Photos command 2140 to transfer all photos stored in the camerato the wastewater control system, followed by a Delete All Photoscommand 2160 to delete the photos stored in the camera after they aresuccessfully transferred to the wastewater control system.

Providing a camera that is controlled by a level sensor such as aniTracker provides some significant advantages. By making the camera aslave to the iTracker level sensor, the battery life of the camera issignificantly improved. The camera need not turn on its wirelessinterface to communicate with the wastewater control system until theiTracker sends a command for the camera to turn on its wirelessinterface. Once the camera turns on its wireless interface, thewastewater control system can interact with the camera to check status,retrieve photos, delete photos, etc. The result is an efficientwastewater monitoring system that is very simple to program and use andis inexpensive when compared to systems that provide similarfunctionality.

The photographs retrieved from a camera can be received and processed ona separate computer system, such as a desktop or laptop computer system.Referring to FIG. 22, computer system 2200 is representative of anysuitable computer system that could communicate with a sensor,communicate with one or more cameras, and analyze photographs, includingwithout limitation a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, and a smart phone. Computer system 2200 could be, for example,a Window-based computer system. However, those skilled in the art willappreciate that the disclosure herein applies equally to any computersystem, regardless of whether the computer system is a complicatedmulti-user computing apparatus, a single user workstation, or anembedded control system. As shown in FIG. 22, computer system 2200comprises one or more processors 2210, a main memory 2220, a massstorage interface 2230, a display interface 2240, and a networkinterface 2250. These system components are interconnected through theuse of a system bus 2260. Mass storage interface 2230 is used to connectmass storage devices, such as local mass storage device 2255, tocomputer system 2200. One specific type of local mass storage device2255 is a readable and writable CD-RW drive, which may store data to andread data from a CD-RW 2295.

Main memory 2220 preferably contains data 2221, an operating system2222, and a wastewater control system 2223. Data 2221 represents anydata that serves as input to or output from any program in computersystem 2200. Operating system 2222 is a multitasking operating system.Wastewater control system 2223 is computer software that includes asensor interface 2224 for communicating with one or more sensors, suchas level sensors discussed above, a camera interface 2225 forcommunicating with one or more cameras, and a photo processing system2226 for processing photos received from one or more cameras. The camerainterface 2225 allows communicating directly with a camera, such as viaa suitable wireless interface. This allows the wastewater control system2223 to see what the camera sees, and to change or adjust the functionof the camera. For example, the brightness of the illuminator(s) in thecamera could be reduced while increasing the brightness of the cameraexposure, to preserve battery life of the camera. In addition, thewastewater control system 2223 can see what the camera sees by thecamera streaming live video to the camera interface 2225. This allowsremotely determining the quality of the photographs or video being takenby the camera, and adjusting one or more parameters that control thefunction of the camera, as needed.

Computer system 2200 utilizes well known virtual addressing mechanismsthat allow the programs of computer system 2200 to behave as if theyonly have access to a large, contiguous address space instead of accessto multiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory 2220 and localmass storage device 2255. Therefore, while data 2221, operating system2222, and wastewater control system 2223 are shown to reside in mainmemory 2220, those skilled in the art will recognize that these itemsare not necessarily all completely contained in main memory 2220 at thesame time. It should also be noted that the term “memory” is used hereingenerically to refer to the entire virtual memory of computer system2200, and may include the virtual memory of other computer systemscoupled to computer system 2200.

Processor 2210 may be constructed from one or more microprocessorsand/or integrated circuits. Processor 2210 executes program instructionsstored in main memory 2220. Main memory 2220 stores programs and datathat processor 2210 may access. When computer system 2200 starts up,processor 2210 initially executes the program instructions that make upoperating system 2222. Processor 2210 also executes the wastewatercontrol system 2223.

Although computer system 2200 is shown to contain only a singleprocessor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art willappreciate that a wastewater control system as described herein may bepracticed using a computer system that has multiple processors and/ormultiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used preferablyeach include separate, fully programmed microprocessors that are used tooff-load compute-intensive processing from processor 2210. However,those skilled in the art will appreciate that these functions may beperformed using I/O adapters as well.

Display interface 2240 is used to directly connect one or more displays2265 to computer system 2200. These displays 2265, which may benon-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmableworkstations, are used to provide system administrators and users theability to communicate with computer system 2200. Note, however, thatwhile display interface 2240 is provided to support communication withone or more displays 2265, computer system 2200 does not necessarilyrequire a display 2265, because all needed interaction with users andother processes may occur via network interface 2250.

Network interface 2250 is used to connect computer system 2200 to othercomputer systems or workstations 2275 via network 2270. Networkinterface 2250 broadly represents any suitable way to interconnectelectronic devices, regardless of whether the network 2270 comprisespresent-day analog and/or digital techniques or via some networkingmechanism of the future. Network interface 2250 preferably includes acombination of hardware and software that allows communicating on thenetwork 2270. Software in the network interface 2250 preferably includesa communication manager that manages communication with other computersystems 2275 via network 2270 using a suitable network protocol. Manydifferent network protocols can be used to implement a network. Theseprotocols are specialized computer programs that allow computers tocommunicate across a network. TCP/IP (Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of a suitable network protocolthat may be used by the communication manager within the networkinterface 2250.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

FIG. 23 shows one specific implementation for the photo processingsystem 2226 shown in FIG. 22. The photo processing system 2226 issoftware that processes photographs taken by one or more installedcameras to help a user identify potential problems based on level ofwater in a pipe. The photo processing system 2226 includes a still tovideo aggregation tool 2320, and a video clip identification tool 2330.The still to video aggregation tool 2320 simply puts all of thephotographs retrieved from an installed camera into time order in avideo stream. Note, however, the video stream could include many hoursof data that would be very tiresome for a human user to view. Eventhough the camera only took one photo each time interval, such as fiveminutes, the resulting video stream after aggregating the photographsover days or weeks could be many hours long. One of the helpful featuresof the photo processing system 2226 is to help identify video clips thatmay be of interest to the user. The video clip identification tool 2330allows a user to define an area of interest 2342 on one of thephotographs. Once the area of interest is defined by the user, the videoclip identification tool 2330 can use any suitable threshold orheuristic 2344 to compare photographs to determine which photographshave sufficient differences to merit viewing by a user. For example, thepixel values in a photograph could be compared to the pixel values inthe preceding photograph in time. When a defined number of pixels in thearea of interest are different than the corresponding pixels in thepreceding photograph, the change can be detected by a delta detectiontool 2346. The delta detection tool 2346 detects deltas, or changes, ina video stream based on a mathematical analysis that is performed usingdefined thresholds and/or heuristics 2344. The video clip identificationtool 2330 also functions according to defined user settings 2348. Theuser settings 2348 provide a user with some adjustment capability forthe photo processing system 2226. The user settings could includespecifying a number of seconds or minutes to display before and afterdetected changes, how changes are detected, etc. Thus, in a first pass,the user could specify a relatively high threshold with a relativelyshort number of minutes before and after the changes to display. If theresult is short video clips that do not provide enough information tothe user, the user could then specify a lower threshold with a longernumber of minutes before and after the changes to display. The usersettings 2348 thus provide a way for the user to adjust the function ofthe photo processing system 2226 according to the user's preferences.

Referring to FIG. 24, a method 2400 represents steps that could beperformed by the photo processing system 2226 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23.Photos are identified for processing (step 2410). One way to identifyphotos for processing is according to how the photos are stored. Forexample, photos stored on an external storage medium, such as an SDcard, could all be identified as photos to be processed. Folders ordirectories could also identify photos for processing. Of course, theuser could also use a software tool to identify photos for processing byselecting a group of photos for processing. The identified photos areaggregated into a video stream (step 2420). This could be done, forexample, by the still to video aggregation tool 2324 in FIG. 23. Theuser then defines an area of interest (step 2430). The user can definean area of interest in any suitable way. For example, the user couldallow the photo processing system to determine a normal flow area inmost of the photographs, and define an area of interest to be anythingoutside the normal flow area. In the alternative, the user could use amouse or other pointing device to graphically designate an area ofinterest, as illustrated below with reference to FIGS. 35-37. The usermay also define user settings for identifying the video clip of interest(step 2440). Using appropriate thresholds, heuristics or otheralgorithms, the photos in the video stream are processed to detectdeltas (or changes) (step 2450). Deltas are defined by differencesbetween adjacent photos, and can be determined using any suitablefunction, including pixel color, pixel brightness, a histogram function,or any other suitable function for processing photographs. Once deltasare detected, one or more video clips of interest are generated from thedetected deltas (step 2460). The video clips of interest are thenidentified to the user (step 2470). The user can then view the videoclips of interest to determine water levels in the pipe being monitoredat times when the water level changed. Method 2400 provides asignificant advance over the known art by automatically filteringthrough a large number of photographs that are not statisticallysignificant in determining differences in water levels and efficientlyidentifying video clips of interest that are most likely to show waterlevels of interest according to the detected deltas and the usersettings.

Detecting deltas in step 2450 and generating video clips of interest instep 2460 may be done in any suitable manner. For example, twophotographs could be identified that have the single biggest delta, anda video clip could be generated that includes a specified number ofminutes or photographs before and after the detected delta. Anothersuitable way to detect deltas is using some average over a number ofphotographs. Thus, pixel values could be averaged over a sliding windowof ten photographs, and when the next photograph processed has a deltathat exceeds some threshold when compared to the average of the tenprevious photographs, the delta can be marked, and a video clip ofinterest can be generated by including the delta and including aspecified number of minutes or photographs before and after the detecteddelta. This includes computing an average pixel value over a predefinednumber of photographs and determining when a plurality of pixels in aphotograph exceeds the computed average pixel value by some definedthreshold. Of course, many other algorithms could be used to detectdeltas and to generate from the detected deltas video clips of interest.The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to any suitable mannerfor detecting deltas in a group of identified photographs, and to anysuitable manner for generating video clips of interest from the detecteddeltas.

One of the significant functions of the photo processing system is theability to identify video clips of interest based on user settings andbased on a defined area of interest. As discussed briefly above, thesystem can define an area of interest based on some mathematical orstatistical analysis of the photos to be processed. In the alternative,the user can manually identify an area of interest. Referring to FIG.25, we assume a camera is pointed towards a location of interest thatincludes three inflows and one outflow, as shown by the arrows in FIG.25. Each photo will have some portions that do not change over time. Forexample, because the water levels in the pipes are of interest, all theareas between the pipes will not have any relevance to water levels inthe pipes. Thus, the areas between the pipes could be ignored in theanalysis. In addition, the user could use a mouse or other pointing toolto specifically identify one or more areas of interest. FIG. 26 shows anarea of interest 2610 that was defined by a user using a mouse to draw aregion that defines the area of interest 2610. Because this area ofinterest 2610 shown in FIG. 26 is the confluence of all three inflowingpipes to the one outflowing pipe, any change in the area of interest2610 is likely to represent a change in water level. By defining area ofinterest 2610 in FIG. 26, the user can focus the analysis of the photoprocessing system on the area where changes are likely to be the mostsignificant in relation to water level.

FIG. 27 shows an alternative area of interest 2710 that could be definedby a user if the suspected leak is in the left-most inflow pipe, asshown in FIG. 27. Yet another way to define one or more areas ofinterest is by the user defining a normal flow region such as 2810 shownin FIG. 28, where everything outside the normal flow region 2810 is anarea of interest. Notice that this is the opposite of what the user didin defining area of interest 2610 in FIG. 26 or 2710 in FIG. 27. Insteadof outlining an area where differences in the water level are ofinterest, the user has defined in FIG. 28 an area where water levels arenormal, thereby defining all areas outside the defined area 2810 as theareas of interest.

The wastewater monitoring system disclosed herein could be used inconjunction with other known sensors or products for monitoringwastewater systems, such as the iTracker level sensor discussed above.The wastewater monitoring system disclosed could receive an alert fromthe iTracker system, which could cause the wastewater monitoring systemto begin taking photographs, to increase the time frequency of takingphotographs, etc. Teledyne Isco makes area velocity flow modules thatdetect velocity of material in a pipe. Such a velocity flow module couldsend an alert to the wastewater monitoring system disclosed herein tocause a change in how the wastewater monitoring system functions. Thus,a wastewater monitoring system as disclosed herein could be installed inproximity to an area velocity flow module, and could be programmed toonly take photographs when an enable signal is received from the systemthat includes the area velocity flow module. Of course, otherfunctionality is also possible, such as increasing the frequency withwhich the wastewater monitoring system takes photographs when a givenvelocity threshold is exceeded by the area velocity flow module. Sensorinterface(s) 1352 shown in FIG. 13 include any suitable interface to anysuitable sensor that could be used with the wastewater monitoring systemdisclosed and claimed herein.

Referring to FIG. 29, a system 2900 in accordance with a preferredembodiment includes a camera 2902 that includes a level sensor interface2948 and camera operational logic 2952. The level sensor interface 2948is one suitable implementation of the level sensor interface 1348 inFIG. 13, and the camera operational logic 2952 is one suitableimplementation of the camera operational logic 1350 in FIG. 13. Thelevel sensor interface 2948 includes a binary trip interface 2950 thatincludes one or more pin inputs that receive trip signals from one ormore binary sensors, shown in FIG. 29 as binary sensor A 2910A, binarysensor B 2910B, . . . , binary sensor N 2920N. Each binary sensor 2910A,2910B, . . . , 2910N provides a corresponding binary trip signal 2920A,2920B, . . . , 2920N. Each binary sensor preferably drives itscorresponding trip signal to one logic state when the binary sensor isin a first state, and drives its corresponding trip signal to a secondlogic state when the binary sensor is in a second state. The binarysensors can be any suitable type of sensor that can provide a binaryoutput, including without limitation a float, a proximity sensor, and aflow sensor. A simple illustration will illustrate. Let's assume binarysensor A 2910A is a float that drives the trip signal 2920A to aninactive state when the float detects a level of liquid less than aspecified threshold defined by the trip point of the float, and drivesthe trip signal 2920A to an active state when the float rises above thetrip point of the float. Similarly, let's assume binary sensor A 2910Ais a proximity sensor that drives the trip signal 2920A to an inactivestate when the proximity sensor detects a level of liquid less than aspecified threshold defined by the trip point of the proximity sensor,and drives the trip signal 2920A to an active state when the proximitysensor senses a level of liquid greater than the trip point of theproximity sensor. Let's assume binary sensor A 2910A is a flow sensorthat drives the trip signal 2920A to an inactive state when flow sensordetects a flow rate less than a specified threshold flow defined by thetrip point of the flow sensor, and drives the trip signal 2920A to anactive state when the flow sensor senses a flow rate greater than thetrip point of the flow sensor. Note the term “trip point” as used hereinrefers to a predetermined threshold that determines when the binarysensor switches the state of its corresponding trip signal.

The camera operational logic 2952 monitors the level sensor interface2948, and when a trip signal from one of the binary sensors is detected,the camera operational logic takes appropriate action depending on thedefined actions for each trip sensor. Referring to FIG. 30, a table 3010shows that each binary sensor A, B, . . . , N has one or morecorresponding actions. Thus, sensor A has one or more correspondingaction(s) A, as shown at 3020A; sensor B has one or more correspondingaction(s) B, as shown at 3020B, . . . , and sensor N has one or morecorresponding action(s) N, as shown at 3020N in FIG. 30. The actions foreach sensor are preferably programmed into the camera operational logic2952 so the camera knows what action to take when the camera detects asensor drives its trip signal active.

FIG. 31 shows a method 3100 that is performed when a trip signal isdetected on the binary trip interface (step 3110). The camera performsone or more actions corresponding to the tripped input (step 3120).Method 3100 is then done. The actions that correspond to the trippedinput could be specified or defined in any suitable way, such as in atable as shown in FIG. 30.

A specific example is now provided to illustrate some of the conceptsdiscussed generally above. We assume for this example the system isinstalled to monitor level of wastewater in a four foot diameter pipe.Referring to FIG. 32, a sample system 3200 includes the camera 2900 asshown in FIG. 29 and described above. We assume this system has a firstfloat A 3210A that is set to activate its trip signal 3220A when thelevel of water reaches 1 ft., a second float B 3210B that is set toactivate its trip signal 3220B when the level of water reaches 2 ft.,and a third float C 3210C is set to activate its trip signal when thelevel of water reaches 3 ft. Suitable camera operational logic isdefined in table 3300 in FIG. 33 that dictates how the cameraoperational logic functions according to the state of the three floatsin FIG. 32. When floats A, B and C are clear, meaning none of their tripsignals are active, the level of the wastewater in the pipe is less than1 ft., and the camera takes one picture every hour as shown at 3310 intable 3300. When float A is set, meaning its trip signal is active, butfloats B and C are clear, meaning their trip signals are inactive, thelevel of wastewater in the pipe is greater than 1 ft. but less than 2ft, and the camera takes a picture every 10 minutes, as shown at 3320.When floats A and B are set but float C is clear, the level ofwastewater in the pipe is greater than 2 ft. but less than 3 ft, and thecamera takes a picture every 1 minute, as shown at 3330. When floats A,B and C are all set, the level of wastewater in the pipe is greater than3 ft, and the camera takes a picture every 10 seconds, as shown at 3340.The rate for the camera to take pictures can be thought of in terms ofeither the time interval between pictures, or a frequency of takingpictures. Note the frequencies shown in FIG. 33 could be normalized tothe same units, such as minutes, which means 3310 would specify onepicture every 60 minutes, 3320 would specify one picture every 10minutes, 3330 would specify one picture every minute, and 3340 wouldspecify one picture every ⅙ of a minute. When the number of picturestaken is a frequency, it is assumed in the most preferred embodimentsthe pictures are taken at even intervals at that frequency.

Because the digital camera is located in a wastewater pipe, addinginformation to a photograph that describes the camera environment can bevery helpful. Referring to FIG. 34, a method 3400 begins when a cameratakes a digital photo and stores the digital photo as a digital photofile in the camera's memory (step 3410). The camera adds metadatarelated to the photograph and the environment to the digital photo file(step 3420). Metadata is data that is not visible on the photographitself, but is data that is embedded in the digital photo file and canbe read electronically. The camera further adds visible informationrelated to the photo and the environment to the digital photo file (step3430). Specific examples of visible information that could be added to adigital photo file are shown in FIGS. 36 and 37, which are discussed inmore detail below.

A method 3500 in FIG. 35 illustrates the function of the cameraoperational logic 2952 in the system 3200 shown in FIG. 32. When floatsA, B and C are clear (step 3510=YES), the photo frequency is set to onephoto per hour (step 3520). When only float A is set (step 3530=YES),the photo frequency is set to one photo per 10 minutes (step 3540). Whenonly floats A and B are set (step 3550=YES), the photo frequency is setto one photo per minute (step 3560). When all of floats A, B and C areset (step 3570=YES), the photo frequency is set to one photo per tenseconds, which could also be expressed as six photos per minute (step3580). When step 3570=NO, this means one or more of the floats aremalfunctioning, so an error condition is reported (step 3590). Errorconditions that result in step 3570=NO include: only float B is set;only float C is set; floats B and C are set but float A is not set;floats A and C are set but float B is not set. The error conditionreported in step 3590 could be logged by the camera until the errorcondition can be reported to the wastewater control system, such as 2223shown in FIG. 22.

One feature of the digital camera disclosed and claimed herein is theability to add visible information to one or more of the pictures thatprovide information regarding the environment where the camera islocated, which is represented in step 3430 in FIG. 34. A digital photo3600 is represented in FIG. 36, which corresponds to the photo capturedby the camera. Various visible information can be added so the visibleinformation is on the photograph itself, making the visible informationvisible to a human or machine observing the photograph 3600. Examples ofsuitable visible information that could be added to the photographinclude: date and time; location; level received from the level sensor;temperature; camera battery status; and level sensor battery status. Asuitable example of date and time is shown at 3610 in FIG. 36. Asuitable example of location is shown at 3620. In this example, thelocation is “5^(th) and Broadway”, which could designate an intersectionnear which the wastewater monitoring system is installed. The locationcan be specified in any suitable way, including GPS coordinates, manholenumber, etc. A suitable example of data from a level sensor is shown at3630, showing the level at 1.26 ft. The level 3630 assumes a non-binarylevel sensor, such as the iTracker, is used that can report level insuitable units rather than just tripping a binary signal. Thetemperature 3640 is shown as 58° F. The camera battery life 3650 isshown at 64%. The level sensor battery life 3660 is shown as 35%.

A second example photograph 3700 is shown in FIG. 37. Visibleinformation added to the digital photograph file for photograph 3700includes; date and time 3610; camera serial number 3720; level 3730derived from binary level sensors; temperature 3740 in degrees Celsius;and camera battery life 3750 expressed as a fraction. The date and time3610 is shown in the same format as in FIG. 36, but could be anysuitable format for expressing date and time, whether currently known ordeveloped in the future. Camera serial number 3720 can serve as anindicator for location. While a camera serial number in general tellsnothing about a camera's location for normal cameras that people take tovarious locations to take photographs, when the camera is mounted in afixed location as disclosed herein, the camera serial number can belogged in the system and correlated to the geographical location of thecamera. The camera serial number 3720 thus becomes an indirect indicatorof location, because the wastewater management system knows the serialnumber and corresponding location where each camera is installed. Thelevel 3730 is derived from trip signals from binary sensors, such as thefloats shown in FIG. 32. When float A is set but floats B and C arecleared, this means the water level is between 1 ft. and 2 ft., as shownat 3730. The temperature 3740 and camera battery level 3750 are showndifferent than in FIG. 36 simply to show that different units andvisible representations can be used for the visible information added toa digital photograph file. The level sensor battery level is not shownin FIG. 37 because binary sensors typically do not need a battery. Abinary sensor, such as a float, typically has a switch that is open whenthe float is in one position and that closes when the float moves to adifferent position. A suitable signal can be routed through the switch,and the presence or absence of the signal can thus provide the twobinary states for the binary sensor, with one state defining an activetrip signal and the other state defining an inactive trip signal.

Adding some types of visible information to a photograph is well-known.For example, digital cameras have long been able to add the date andtime as visible information to a digital photograph file. However, someof the visible information added to a digital photograph file asdisclosed herein is new and would not have been obvious to one ofordinary skill in the art. The level received from one or more levelsensors is information not generated by the camera that can be added asvisible information. The camera herein adds information from a devicesuch as a level sensor external to the camera as visible information toa digital photograph taken by the camera, which is not known in the art.The temperature of the camera or an environment surrounding the camerais information that would not normally be present in known cameras andwould not be relevant to most photographs. However, the temperature ofthe camera or environment surrounding the camera can be very relevant towastewater monitoring. The camera battery level is a needed piece ofinformation so the wastewater control system knows when the battery in acamera need to be replaced. It is known to display battery level on adisplay on a camera, but not to add the battery level as visibleinformation to a digital photograph file. In addition, visibleinformation relating to the level sensor battery level can be added asvisible information to a digital photograph file. Because the digitalphotograph is of wastewater in a wastewater monitoring system, the levelinformation added as visible information to the digital photograph fileis very useful. Furthermore, adding a camera's serial number as visibleinformation to a digital photograph file would not make sense withcameras that are mobile. However, since the camera disclosed herein ismounted in a fixed location to monitor wastewater, the serial number ofthe camera and the location of the camera with that serial number can belogged when the camera and level sensor(s) are initially installed. Onceinstalled, the serial number of the camera acts as a surrogate forgeographical location because the wastewater control system know how tocorrelate the serial number of the camera to the camera's location.While adding some information as visible information to a digitalphotograph file might be obvious in light of known prior art, addingcamera serial number, level from one or more level sensors, temperature,camera battery level and level sensor battery level would not have beenobvious in light of the known prior art.

The wastewater monitoring system could include a real-time connection toa network that allows sending alerts to changing conditions. Forexample, a manhole might be in a street in proximity to a café thatoffers free Wi-Fi, allowing the wastewater monitoring system to connectvia its wireless interface to the café 's Wi-Fi network. In addition,various cities have initiatives to have “smart cities” with variousinterconnected networks throughout the city. The camera could connect toone of these networks as well. Of course, the camera could connect to acellular network as well. Thus, when the camera detects water on itshousing, a real-time alert could be sent indicating that is water on thecamera housing. When the temperature sensor detects a change intemperature in the location of interest, a real-time alert could besent. When the pressure sensor detects a change in pressure on thecamera housing, a real-time alert could be sent to signal an overflowcondition. In addition, the camera could use any or all of theseconditions to change its own function in addition to sending thereal-time alert(s). An operator could receive a real-time alert, such asan e-mail or a text message, which would then enable the operator tobetter understand the conditions where the wastewater monitoring systemis installed. The video stream generated from the photographs could alsobe tagged to indicate to the user when the real-time alert occurred.This could be done by the camera itself, or by the photo processingsystem using timestamps to correlate the real-time alerts to thecorresponding photograph or photographs in the video stream.

A wastewater monitoring system uses a digital camera in a fixed locationin a wastewater pipe. The digital camera is coupled to a binary sensorthat provides a binary trip signal that indicates when the sensordetects wastewater in the pipe exceeding a defined threshold. When thedigital camera detects a trip signal from the binary sensor, operatinglogic in the digital camera changes frequency for taking pictures. Thedigital camera preferably adds visible data to a stored digitalphotograph file that may include any or all of the following: cameraserial number, state of one or more sensors, temperature, battery levelof a battery in the digital camera, and battery level of a battery inone or more sensor(s). The visible data is stored in the digitalphotograph file such that the visible information is overlaid on thedigital photograph so it is visible to the eye of the person viewing thedigital photograph.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possiblewithin the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure isparticularly shown and described above, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theclaims.

1. A digital camera comprising: an image sensor for taking a digitalphotograph and storing the digital photograph in a corresponding digitalphotograph file in a memory; a sensor interface coupled to a sensor thatprovides a binary trip signal to the sensor interface when the sensordetects a predetermined condition; and operational logic that defines afirst frequency for the digital camera to take photographs and a secondfrequency for the digital camera to take photographs that is greaterthan the first frequency for the digital camera to take photographs,wherein the operational logic monitors the sensor interface, and whenthe binary trip signal is not detected on the sensor interface, theoperational logic causes the digital camera to take a plurality ofphotographs at the first frequency, and when the binary trip signal isdetected on the sensor interface, the operational logic causes thedigital camera to take a plurality of photographs at the secondfrequency.
 2. The digital camera of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprisesa level sensor that provides the binary trip signal when a leveldetected by the level sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold.
 3. Thedigital camera of claim 2 wherein the level sensor detects level ofwater in a wastewater pipe.
 4. The digital camera of claim 1 furthercomprising a temperature sensor that provides a temperature, wherein theoperational logic, after storing the digital photograph file in thememory, adds the temperature received from the temperature sensor asvisible information to the digital photograph file in the memory.
 5. Thedigital camera of claim 1 further comprising a battery that providespower to the digital camera and a battery sensor that detects a level ofthe battery, wherein the operational logic, after storing the digitalphotograph file in the memory, adds the level of the battery receivedfrom the battery sensor as visible information to the digital photographfile in the memory.
 6. A digital camera comprising: an image sensor fortaking a digital photograph and storing the digital photograph in acorresponding digital photograph file in a memory; a battery that powersthe digital camera; a battery sensor coupled to the battery thatdetermines a level of charge of the battery; and operational logic thattakes the digital photograph using the image sensor and adds visibleinformation corresponding to the level of charge of the battery on thedigital photograph by adding the visible information to the digitalphotograph file in the memory.
 7. The digital camera of claim 6 furthercomprising a temperature sensor that provides a temperature, wherein theoperational logic adds the temperature received from the temperaturesensor as visible information to the digital photograph file in thememory.
 8. The digital camera of claim 7 wherein the temperaturecomprises temperature of the digital camera.
 9. The digital camera ofclaim 7 wherein the temperature comprises temperature of an environmentexternal to the digital camera.
 10. The digital camera of claim 6wherein the operational logic adds visible information corresponding toa serial number of the digital camera as visible information to thedigital photograph file in the memory.
 11. A digital camera comprising:an image sensor for taking a digital photograph and storing the digitalphotograph in a corresponding digital photograph file in a memory; andoperational logic that takes the digital photograph using the imagesensor and adds visible information corresponding to a serial number ofthe digital camera on the digital photograph by adding the visibleinformation to the digital photograph file in the memory.
 12. Thedigital camera of claim 11 further comprising a temperature sensor thatprovides a temperature, wherein the operational logic adds thetemperature received from the temperature sensor as visible informationto the digital photograph file in the memory.
 13. The digital camera ofclaim 12 wherein the temperature comprises temperature of the digitalcamera.
 14. The digital camera of claim 12 wherein the temperaturecomprises temperature of an environment external to the digital camera.15. The digital camera of claim 11 further comprising a battery thatprovides power to the digital camera and a battery sensor that detects alevel of the battery, wherein the operational logic adds the level ofthe battery received from the battery sensor as visible information tothe digital photograph in the memory.
 16. A method for modifying aphotograph comprising: taking a digital photograph with a digitalcamera; storing the digital photograph in a corresponding digitalphotograph file in a memory in the digital camera; and adding visibleinformation corresponding to a serial number of the digital camera onthe digital photograph by adding the visible information to the digitalphotograph file in the memory in the digital camera.
 17. The method ofclaim 16 further comprising adding a temperature received from atemperature sensor as visible information to the digital photograph filein the memory in the digital camera.
 18. The method of claim 17 whereinthe temperature comprises temperature of the digital camera.
 19. Themethod of claim 17 wherein the temperature comprises temperature of anenvironment external to the digital camera.
 20. The method of claim 16further comprising adding level of a battery that powers the digitalcamera as visible information to the digital photograph in the memory inthe digital camera.